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Science 23 February 2001:
Vol. 291. no. 5508, pp. 1469 - 1470
DOI: 10.1126/science.291.5508.1469
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News of the Week

PALEONTOLOGY:
Whiff of Gas Points to Impact Mass Extinction

Richard A. Kerr

On page 1530, geochemists report that they have detected the noble gases helium and argon apparently trapped in the molecular cages of carbon "buckyballs," or fullerenes, extracted from rock laid down at the Permian-Triassic extinction 251 million years ago. Analysis of these gases shows, the researchers say, that their isotopic compositions are much more like those found in meteorites than on Earth. Thus, they conclude that a giant impactor delivered the chemicals to Earth just when the extinctions occurred.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Preserving the Figure: Consistency in the Presentation of Scientific Arguments.
J. Fahnestock (2004)
Written Communication 21, 6-31
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Time, life and the Earth.
A. Manning (2001)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 190, 253-264
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